COLORSxSTUDIOS

Lagos loves yellow. Amidst the sea of alluring hues that color all corners of the sprawling Nigerian metropolis, it’s the yellows that dazzle, capturing your gaze and complimenting the electrifying buzz of the city’s hustle and bustle culture. The most prominent and recognisable casts of yellow in Lagos emanate from the public transportation system, from the Danfos and Molues (buses) to Kekes (tricycles) and Cabu Cabus (taxi cabs).

Danfos (which translates to ‘hurry’ from Yoruba) are particularly fascinating. Across the city, these often rickety vehicles zoom by like tornados, hinging on the drivers’ encyclopedic knowledge of potholes to propel them safely from place to place. Meanwhile, danfo conductors yell out the names of bus stops, determined to fill all of their 12-16 seats and collate fares.

More than just a mode of transport, Danfos are uniquely part and parcel of Lagos’ cultural identity, and nothing offers a glimpse into the resilient spirit, faith, and quirky optimism of Lagosians quite like them. To read the colorful inscriptions in Yoruba, Arabic, and Pidgin English pasted on the buses is to understand the personal ideologies of their drivers: while some are covered in prayers and theistic expressions like “God dey (God is present)”, “Oye Olohun (God understands)”, “Up Mecca!”, “Oluwa Loseyi (God did)”, and “Alhamdulillah (meaning ‘praise be to God’ in Arabic)”, others feature affirmative slogans and philosophical street slang like “Soro Soke (speak up)”, “Sopetie (be thankful)”, “No condition is permanent”, and “No stress”. Many are also covered in stickers of the drivers’ favorite musical artists—images of Wizkid, Asake, Seyi Vibez, Pasuma Wonder, Portable, and K1 De Ultimate are nearly inescapable—whose tracks, along with different iterations of apala, juju, fuji, and afrobeats music, blair from the vehicle’s speakers.

A report by the NBS stated that as a result of the fuel price hike, “the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop [at a bus stop] increased by 97.88 per cent from N649.59 in May 2023 to N1,285.41 in June 2023.” The once loud, busy, and vibrantly yellow streets of Lagos are now quieter as commuters have started to opt for cheaper modes of transport, from walking for some distance to embracing cycling as advised by Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

In the face of these hurdles, Lagos’ yellow buses remain. When I ask Mr. Ajibola if he plans to retire soon, he laughs and says, “Retire? If I retire, what will I do? People need money to retire, and there is no money.”

For Idowu, however, fiercely holds on to the belief that life can and will get better. “Nigeria will get better if we pray,” he says. Realistically, to facilitate an end to the Danfo buses is to strip Lagos of its identity and upend a sense of familiarity for Lagosians. “I can’t imagine waking up and not seeing their colour or hearing their noises on the road any more,” shares Richard Onuoha, a student of the University of Lagos who relies on Danfo buses for his daily commute. “They are our culture. Even when you ask Nigerians in the diaspora, it is one of the things that they can easily point out about Lagos. It would be quite sad to take all of that away.”